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In Thailand’s democracy, emoticons and retweets are becoming the new ballot papers.
On Monday, protest organizers asked supporters on Facebook if they should hold rallies that night: the “Care” emoticon indicated “rest for a day”, while the “Wow” emoticon was a vote to “keep going! ” The majority on Facebook chose to continue the protests. A similar poll was also conducted on Twitter, using like and retweet buttons for voting.
Platforms like Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc, and Telegram Group Inc have become the backbone of the youth-led movement posing an unprecedented challenge to King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the royal establishment of Thailand. Reflecting the “Be Water” tactics dominated by protesters in Hong Kong last year, the decentralized movement is using online forums to ask supporters to vote on when and where to meet, sometimes choosing multiple locations at once.
The measures have kept the police off balance: last week, authorities closed parts of Bangkok and some mass transit stations in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the gathering of protesters. They have now held rallies every day since Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha issued an emergency decree to ban large gatherings.
And while police have arrested more than 70 people, including prominent leaders, others are lined up to take their places as protesters push for Prayuth’s resignation, a more democratic constitution, and more responsibility for a monarchy that has more power and wealth than that. any institution in Thailand. .
“We are already creating a headache for the government just by holding leaderless rallies to show them that the people are against them,” said Arthitaya Pornprom, one of the organizers of the protest, in a telephone interview. “We are showing them that although the leaders have left, the movement continues. Everyone is a leader. “
Emerging protests
On Friday, protesters were able to use social media to gather at a new location an hour after police foiled their initial plans. Since then, they have been popping up regularly in various locations for a short period of time before quickly dispersing to avoid crackdowns.
Although Thailand has long faced street protests, these tactics are all new in Bangkok. In previous years, the police had to confront protesters backed by important political figures who occupied streets or strategic places such as the international airport for days or weeks.
Now the movement is based in cyberspace and the authorities are fighting to stop it. The government on Monday asked Internet and telephony service providers to block access to the Telegram messaging app, used by protesters in recent days to coordinate plans. Last month, a cabinet minister filed a complaint against some social media platforms for failing to comply with requests to remove content that the government deemed “inappropriate.”
Prayuth, who has said the government’s key task is to “protect the monarchy,” ordered police on Tuesday to reconsider media censorship, a day after authorities said they would investigate four media outlets that could having violated the emergency decree.
“Our job is to protect the country and eliminate malicious actions aimed at creating chaos and conflict in the country,” Prayuth told reporters after a cabinet meeting. He passed a special session of parliament starting October 26 to discuss the protests, although he still needs the king’s approval to move forward.
Economic impact
Any ban on platforms like Facebook would annoy more than 50 million active users in Thailand, equivalent to more than 70% of the population, who use social media to chat, shop, and follow current events. Previous threats by the government to take legal action against social media giants have not materialized, despite some posts and pages having been removed or blocked.
“The government has found it difficult to suppress this type of leaderless cyber-organizing movement,” said David Streckfuss, a Southeast Asian political scholar and author of a book on Thailand’s lese majesty laws. “They could shut down social media, they have the power to do that. But it will come at a price. The current economic situation is quite bad and many companies depend on social networks. They would worsen the economic situation even more, which would provoke more movements against him. “
The protests have already affected the country’s stocks and currency as concerns mount that a protracted standoff could erode the company’s profits and delay economic recovery. The benchmark stock index, the worst-performing index in Asia this year, closed near a six-month low on Tuesday, while the baht fell 0.3% to 31,271 to the dollar, extending losses this year to 4.2%.
For their part, protest organizers like Arthitaya are ready to continue.
“We are gaining momentum for the movement more than before, so we have to keep holding rallies,” he said. “The anger of the protesters will continue to mount. If the government continues to intensify its repression, more people will come out. “- Bloomberg
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